
Steinbrenner took somebody’s good advice: keep A-Rod. Although it may just be a smoke-screen, Gotham’s Team is saying that they aren’t considering dumping the converted 3rd baseman. Good! The Yankees put the “fun” in dysfunctional. They are an impossible organization, with unrealistic, pseudo-ballgame-intellectuals for fans. As long as Steinbrenner has been the boss, his town has eaten highly-touted free-agents like they were Ballpark Franks.
Kenny Rogers sure seemed to relish the humiliation of the Yankees in Detroit last week (10/6/06). For the record, The Gambler gunned down New York’s latest Murderer’s Row for 7.2 innings, posting 8 K’s, 2 BB’s and no earned runs in front of the Tiger’s home crowd. In addition to the obvious incentive, Rogers wanted to show Yankees’ fans that they had misjudged and mistreated him, after labeling him a $20 Million free-agent bust in 1996.
The crux of Gotham’s Chicken/Egg Issue is this: either A.)Do free-agents put on pinstripes, underachieve and draw boos? or B.) Do they put on pin-stripes, draw boos during the inevitable adjustment period and then failure snow-balls? Based upon the following list, I tend to choose option “B”.
Does anyone remember Jack McDowell? How about Jose’ Contreras? Steve Karsay or Danny Tartabull? During the tribulations endured by these very good players, a younger Steinbrenner’s M.O. was to take his losses, put the blame on the players, and move on to the franchise’s next potential savior. By the way, don’t you think that Randy Johnson’s favorite player in the clubhouse is A-Rod? Thanks to all the attention, less ink and expletives were cast in the direction of The Big Unit’s 5.0 regular season ERA.
Of the $25 Million A-Rod earns per year, the Yankee’s pay only $17 Million of it, thanks to the Rangers’ charitable send-off. That’s actually less than Jeter, Giambi and Mussina. So, Yankees fans ought to stop choosing the “salary” stick to beat him.
A-Rod had a down year, by his standards. He only tied for 8th in homers in the A.L. Terrible. He only batted .290 during the regular season. Inexcusable. He had a better on-base percentage than White Sox MVP candidate, Jermaine Dye. Oh, yeah. Alex should hang it up and start selling cars.
Yes, he had fielding and throwing errors when it mattered, not to mention his failure to produce big hits at big moments. But, this season in New York shouldn’t exemplify A-Rod’s let-down. It should instead magnify the unfortunate results of Yankee Fans’ sad tendency to eat their young. Kenny Rogers barely got out of town with his skin and his dignity intact, back in ’97. Is it any wonder why he seemed so especially jubilant last Friday Night?